Major spoilers ahead for the 100th episode of The Blacklist, called "Abraham Stern."
The Blacklist officially hit its milestone 100th episode with "Abraham Stern," and it featured a grand heist that combined some wacky bank-robbing shenanigans with Elizabeth's ongoing quest to get revenge for Tom's murder. Red used all his resources to outsmart the titular Abraham Stern (played by the wonderful Nathan Lane), and one of those resources was Elizabeth. Instead of just helping Red out of the goodness of her heart, Elizabeth had a much darker purpose, and it points toward an intense rest of Season 5.
The action started when Red's car was smashed into by a van so that Abraham Stern could rob Red of a very valuable penny that was one of only four in the world. Legend had it that the four pennies together would provide clues leading to a long-lost treasure, and Stern intended to find it. Red obviously wasn't going to stand for being robbed of the chance to complete a treasure hunt, and he used all his resources to get his hands on another of the coins that had been confiscated by the cops so as to force Stern to partner with him. Thanks to Glen Carter staging a heart attack at police HQ, Elizabeth was able to sneak into the evidence lockup and get her hands on the penny. As it turns out, however, the penny wasn't the real reason why she agreed to steal evidence.
In "Abraham Stern," Elizabeth was still dealing with the aftermath of killing the man she'd only meant to interrogate about Tom's death in the previous episode. The apartment was a bloody mess, and Elizabeth had to scramble to clean up before the superintendent and cops showed up to investigate. She managed to get almost everything cleared, but she ran into a big problem due to a shard of glass with which she'd been impaled. Although she staunched the wound, she ended up having to stuff the blood-soaked rag down the garbage disposal and make a run for it with the corpse.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, a detective found the rag, and it was sent to evidence lockup until it could be tested. Upon learning that she was one blood test away from being discovered, Liz agreed to help Red break into the evidence room. He believed that he was giving her a distraction from focusing on Tom's death; she was pursuing her own goal of covering up a death.
The twist that Liz was only helping Red because it was convenient for her and not because he's her father or she needed the distraction was a big sign that she's not getting any better or lighter with time. In fact, her entire storyline -- from cleaning up the crime scene to (somewhat awesomely) dissolving the body in a heart-shaped hot tub to stealing the rag -- was a dark side of what was an otherwise pretty lighthearted hour. If not for Liz's role in the heist, Red's successful treasure hunt would have been one of the most fun stories of the entire show to date.
The good news for Liz -- other than that she won't be going to prison for murder -- is that dissolving the body of the dead man led to the discovery of his glass eye that just so happened to be some kind of high-tech gizmo. The death of the man with information on Tom's death was a blow; the recovery of his eye could lead to a big win for Liz. Perhaps the eye will be a clue pointing her to where she needs to go next on his quest for revenge.
All things considered, "Abraham Stern" was an intense and enjoyable 100th episode that both celebrated the series and furthered the current plot. The rest of Season 5 should be pretty rewarding for viewers. New episodes of The Blacklist air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. For other viewing options now and in the coming weeks, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
